Shurink Effect Duration,

The Difference Between Those Who Last 6 Months

and Those Who Last 9 Months

Last Tuesday, a 42-year-old office worker came to the clinic.

42-year-old office worker came to the clinic.

"Last year, I got 600 Shurink shots somewhere else,

but after about 6 months, it just went back to how it was before.

Is that how it’s supposed to be?"

The shot count was enough, so why was the effect so short-lived?

She only had a consultation that day and decided to hold off for now,

and I think my answer may have been a bit unexpected.

Bottom line.

Shurink is a lifting procedure whose effects last an average of 6 to 9 months.

It is a lifting treatment that stays in place for that long.

What makes the difference.

Compared with 1.5 mm alone, stimulating the SMAS with 4.5 mm

lasts 2 to 3 months longer.

What we’ll look at today.

How to tell whether your treatment was done with attention to depth

as well as shot count.

What you’ll learn from this article

• Why Shurink duration differs from person to person

  — depth, not shot count

• Differences in penetration depth among Universe, MP Mode, and Booster Tip

  
  
  

• Retreatment timing and factors that help it last longer

How long does the Shurink effect last?

The Shurink effect is a HIFU lifting treatment that lasts an average of 6 to 9 months.

It is a HIFU lifting treatment that lasts that long.

Still, that 6-to-9-month range is fairly wide.

For some people, it returns to baseline in 6 months,

while for others it lasts 9 months, and in some cases up to 12 months.

Where does this difference come from?

This is a common misconception, but

it is not because of a higher shot count.

Whether it’s 600 shots or 900 shots, what determines durability is

which layer that energy is delivered into.

Dr. Wi Young-jin’s

Key Insight

Shurink effects last an average of 6 to 9 months,

but when the SMAS is stimulated with 4.5 mm,

it lasts 2 to 3 months longer than 1.5 mm alone.

Depth is what determines longevity.

Why Shurink depth determines durability

The energy has to reach the SMAS layer precisely

for collagen to build up.

Actually, this is something I hear in the clinic

two or three times a week.

Going back to the 42-year-old case I mentioned earlier,

the 600 shots received were mostly at 1.5 mm and 3.0 mm.

The 4.5 mm tip was barely used.

1.5 mm reaches the dermis,

and 3.0 mm reaches the subcutaneous fat layer.

But the true structural foundation of lifting, the SMAS layer,

is usually at a depth of 4.5 mm.

If it doesn’t reach that depth, you only get mild tightening near the surface,

and the sagging structure itself returns as it was.

In my follow-up cases,

those in which the SMAS was properly stimulated with 4.5 mm

last on average 2 to 3 months longer.

That’s because the SMAS becomes firmly fixed,

pulling the sagging fat back toward the muscle layer.

This is the essence of collagen buildup.

But there is one important point here.

Using a lot of 4.5 mm shots

is not automatically better.

If 4.5 mm is used near the jawbone,

it only increases pain,

and if energy reaches the muscle,

it can leave side effects such as pain when chewing.

Dr. Wi Young-jin’s key summary

• What determines Shurink duration is

  not shot count, but whether '4.5 mm reached the SMAS precisely.'

  
  
  
  

• The ratio of 4.5 and 3.0 should be adjusted according to skin thickness, and at our clinic we verify the thickness with ultrasound before treatment.

  
  
  

• 400 well-placed shots last longer than

  600 shots at the wrong depth.

Universe, MP Mode, and Booster,

how deep do they go?

Even with the same Shurink, different tip configurations

lead to different results.

The differences will be clear if you look at it this way.

If contouring is the goal,

only 4.5 and 3.0 should be used.

The 1.5 mm Booster Tip is for skin texture refinement and fine wrinkles,

and if you try to lift sagging lines with it,

the results won’t last as long.

This was a 50-year-old patient I saw last month.

When they first came in, they had been recommended 800 shots with

the 1.5 mm Booster.

But given the degree of sagging,

this was a case that should have been treated with a 6:4 ratio of 4.5 and 3.0.

Recommending only the Booster Tip

is actually a disadvantage when it comes to duration.

Three in-clinic Shurink Q&As

Q1. If the Shurink effect doesn’t even last 6 months,

is something wrong with me?

It’s not that there’s something wrong with you; it’s more likely that the depth setup of the treatment

didn’t match the stage of sagging.

In about 7 out of 10 cases, the 4.5 mm tip

was barely used.

Q2. Then do I need retreatment every 6 months?

For first-time patients,

we usually build it up with three sessions at 3-week intervals,

then reassess around 6 to 9 months later.

For patients in their late 30s who respond well,

it can be fine to stretch it to 10 months.

Q3. If I get a lot of 4.5 mm shots,

will it always last longer?

No. 4.5 mm only matters when it reaches the SMAS

precisely.

If it is delivered incorrectly near the jawbone,

it can just irritate the bone and leave nerve stimulation behind.

It’s not about more; it’s about precision.

In the end, Shurink duration is not a tally of shot count, but

a record of how far the 4.5 mm energy reached.

In the next article,

I’ll explain how collagen builds differently with 'Shurink 3 times at 3-week intervals versus once every 6 months'

and how that works in practice.

I’ll show case examples of how the line changes one year later

depending on whether you did the initial buildup.

This is Dr. Wi Young-jin.

Related reading

• Ulthera 300-Shot Effect, Use It Only on the Cheekbones [Seoul National University Specialist]

• Ulthera on the Cheekbones: Do You Need to Treat the Whole Face for It to Work?

• If You Just Got Botox, the Effect Won’t Show Right Away! It Varies by Area